


To Lay Bare Your Soul

by Fighter_and_Sacrifice (orphan_account)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Drama & Romance, Eventual Fluff, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin) Has Feelings, Levi/Eren Yeager-centric, M/M, Ravioli, ereri, riren - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-06-04 13:37:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6660265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Fighter_and_Sacrifice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren finds himself falling for his corporal. After the feelings are returned, Eren and Levi learn that their trials only bring them closer together. </p><p>Once two people are close enough, the only barrier left between them is the veil between their souls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Attack on Titan.

"Eren, what are you staring at?" Mikasa asked. She, Eren, and Armin were sitting on the ground a little ways outside the castle. Eren kept staring at an area close to it, but neither she nor Armin could tell what he was looking at. There were quite a few people outside the castle as well, so if it was a person, they couldn't tell whom.

"Nothing," he said. His face seemed slightly red. Armin looked at him closely.

"Is it a person?" he asked.

"No! I'm not staring at anything," Eren said, his voice growing anxious. Armin and Mikasa looked at each other.

"Do you like someone?" Armin asked. Eren just stared at them for a few seconds; he was now clearly blushing, and the tips of his ears were red.

"That's a yes then," said Armin, "Who is it?" Eren buried his face in his arms. He wasn't good at hiding things from these two; although, he wasn't good at hiding things from anyone.

"You can't tell anyone."

"We won't! Just tell us, please?" Armin asked. Mikasa stayed silent; it was always hard to tell what she was thinking.

"...al...i" Eren mumbled.

"What'd you say?" asked Armin. Eren slightly lifted up his head and looked at the ground.

"Corporal Levi," he said softly. Armin looked shocked, and Mikasa's eyes went wide.

"Corporal Levi? How did I not think of that at all?" Armin said. Normally, he could figure out things like this on his own. Eren looked at them with an expression of utter seriousness.

"Don't tell anyone," he said. Then, Mikasa spoke up.

"I don't think you should get involved with him," she said, "He's probably a lot older than you, anyway." Eren sighed.

"He's thirty-four," he said bluntly. There was a short silence, and then Armin was the first to speak.

"I don't see how age is an issue. And I think that if someone finds love in a life where we could die at any time... it should be pursued. Eren, I'll support you," Armin said. Mikasa looked at him, surprised.

"I don't know if it's a good idea, but I will support you anyway," she said. Eren smiled, feeling very relieved to have gotten the acceptance of his two best friends.

"Thank you," he said.

"So, what is it that you like about him? It's not just because he's short, right?" Armin asked teasingly. Eren smiled faintly.

"Have you ever seen him kill a titan? He's absolutely incredible. And he protected me when I picked up that spoon, when the rest of the squad wanted to kill me because I got that titan arm. Plus, he's really tiny, and his voice..." Eren trailed off, staring at Levi in the distance with an expression Armin and Mikasa had never seen before on him.

"Are you going to go after him?" Armin asked.

"No, he'd kill me if he found out," Eren said.

"You never know, maybe he's feeling the same thing and just doesn't want to tell you either." Eren looked at him suddenly.

"Do you think that's possible?" he asked.

"Maybe, but I don't know that much about him. You'll only know for sure if you try," said Armin. Eren thought about it for a minute. Yes, it was unlikely for Levi to return the feeling to him, but the thought of what his life could be like if he did was too exciting a prospect for him to pass up.

"Well, what do I do?" he asked.

"Hmmm, I'll try to think of something. For now, just try to read his body language, if you can. I know he's not exactly an open book, though, so you might not be able to tell," Armin said.

"Isn't he friends with Hanji?" Mikasa asked.

"Now that you say that, they are together a lot. Wait," Eren said, his heart sinking, "are they more than friends?"

"I don't know, they could just be friends. But I can try to find out for you without being suspicious," Armin said.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful," he added when he saw Eren's look of worry. Their conversation soon returned to normal, but Eren's mind would not stray from a certain man who he could see talking with Erwin, far in the distance.

 

* * *

 

A few days after Eren had revealed his secret, Armin finally found the perfect opportunity to talk to Hanji. She was walking to the door of the castle with some food; he assumed she was going to go eat outside. Armin followed her, trying to calm down. He had rehearsed what to say several times depending on what she said, but he was still nervous. After she stepped out of the door, Armin spoke.

"Hanji?" he said. She turned around.

"Hello Armin!" she said cheerily.

"Um... Is it okay if I ask you some things?" he said nervously, still not calm yet.

"Of course! What about? I'm honored for the Armin which I've heard so much about to come to me for questions," she said teasingly. He'd never even spoken to her before, how did she know anything about him?

"W-where exactly did you hear about me?" he asked.

"Oh, friends," she said vaguely. Armin decided not to think about that for the moment, and instead focus on the questions he needed to ask. He sat down next to her against the stone wall of the castle. He took a deep breath, and spoke.

"Hanji, do you know anything about relationships?" Armin asked. She laughed.

"Not much, I'm afraid. My life is purely devoted to studying titans. Why, are you trying to get advice for a friend?" she asked.

"No, I'm just curious," he said. She looked at him knowingly. Armin was getting worried. Wouldn't she have asked if he was getting advice for himself first, before asking if it was for a friend? He had a feeling she could see into his mind.

"So, what other questions do you have to sate Ere- I mean, your curiosity?" she said. Armin was trying to collect his thoughts, but her apparent knowledge of his reason for asking was distracting. His brief silence resulted in a partial answer from her.

"You know, I can figure things out pretty well, too," she said. Armin decided to stick with his original questions for fear of revealing something she didn't already know. Although, he figured that he could press a little more just to see if he could get any extra information.

"Hanji, how much do you know?" he asked.

"Well, I don't know anything for sure. But I have some guesses," she said. The look on Armin's face urged her on.

"I'm guessing you wanted to know if I had a relationship to see if I'm with Levi, considering the fact that I'm usually around him. I'm also guessing that you're wanting to know some things for Eren, because I'm guessing he likes someone, and doesn't want to tell the person directly because of either embarrassment, or because of fear of getting punished for it. Knowing that Eren tends to blurt things out without thinking, I'm guessing it's the latter. And who would he be worried about getting punishment from? Well, Erwin would probably just ignore it. Levi, however... Since he doesn't know Levi very well, it makes sense that he would fear that from him. However, Levi wouldn't hurt someone for being attracted to him. Anyway, my overall guess is that Eren wants to know if there's a chance of Levi returning his feelings. Did I guess correctly?" she asked. Armin was temporarily dumbfounded (which almost never happens). His speechlessness was answer enough for her.

"I KNEW it!" she said excitedly.

"Here's what information I can give for Eren: Levi is my best friend, but that's it. You don't have to worry about the whole gender thing; Eren's a tall person, so he should be good. As for Little Ravioli being attracted to anyone, that I can't disclose. And if he's looking for a chance to talk to him, Levi's birthday is coming up in a few days, and I'm trying to make us all eat together for it. He doesn't want to, but I'm sure I can bribe him into coming," Hanji said, giggling a bit. Armin got up.

"Thank you so much!" he said. As he started walking off, she said something else. He turned back around.

"Tell Eren I said good luck," she said, winking. Armin headed off to find Eren, eager to relay his new information, and tell Eren that he did, in fact, have a chance.


	2. Chapter 2

A knock sounded at Eren's bedroom door. Levi and Erwin had finally allowed him to have a normal room. He enjoyed the privacy; though, there was one thing he missed. Levi no longer had any need to watch him, so he didn't get to spend the night talking to him. When he was in the cell, he and Levi usually ended up talking until late at night. He had learned that Levi only gets two or three hours of sleep a night, and so their long conversations didn't seem to bother him. In fact, he'd learned a bit about Levi in that time, though much about him was still shrouded in mystery.

"Come in," he said. The door opened, and Armin walked in. He quickly shut the door and sat down beside Eren on the bed.

"Eren, I talked to Hanji!" he said excitedly, grinning at Eren.

"What'd she say?" Eren answered. Armin seemed to be thinking about how to say something.

"Well, she already knew you liked Corporal," Armin said, "But I don't think she's going to tell him." Eren breathed a sigh of relief.

"How did she know, though?" he asked. Armin shrugged.

"She's just observant, and is good at figuring things out," he said. "Anyway, do you want to hear what she said?"

"Yes!" Eren leaned forward, eager to hear.

"Well, she and Corporal Levi are best friends only. The Corporal doesn't seem to have much of a gender preference, he just likes tall people," said Armin, giggling at the last part, "And she wouldn't tell me if he's interested in anyone. Also, his birthday is coming up soon, and she's going to try to talk him into eating dinner with the rest of us. That would be your chance to talk to him."

"He likes tall people, huh?" Eren laughed.

"Yeah, and she said you counted as tall! Also, when she was talking about him, she called him 'Little Ravioli'," Armin said.

"God, she really is crazy," Eren said, "Is she trying to be kicked to her death?"

"Well, they are best friends, he's probably a little more tolerant of her. Are you going to talk to him at the dinner, if he comes?" Armin asked.

"I don't know," Eren said. "I know I'll have to eventually if I want anything to happen, though."

"Well, even if you don't do it then, I'm sure you'll have more chances," Armin said.

"Yeah, I want to know how he feels so I can get over this stupid waiting," said Eren. Their conversation moved on, and the topic of Levi was not again mentioned until a few days later on December 25th, Levi's birthday, for which he would be eating with them. According to Armin, he had only agreed to come because of Hanji's constant pestering.

Sure enough, when Eren came into the dining hall that night, Levi was sitting at a large table. All of the smaller tables had been cleared out, and there was now one single, long table. He had refused to sit at the head, so was sitting near a corner. Hanji was sitting beside him, chatting away. Levi's arms were crossed and he looked annoyed. The rest of the table was starting to fill up, and Eren made a quick decision to get a seat across from Levi, but several seats to the right, so it wouldn't look as if he had intentionally tried to sit near him.

Once the food came, Eren couldn't help but watch the Corporal eat. He'd never seen him eat before. He ate all of his food with a fork, including the bread. And when he picked up his cup, he held it by the top, rather than by the handle. For some reason, Eren found this to be endearing, and he could feel himself blushing at the odd sight. Levi's skin seemed even paler than usual in the fire and lantern light compared to everyone else's, and his short height wasn't visible when sitting in a chair. Eren admired all the parts of his face, from his thin but perfect lips, to his small and cute nose, to his dark blue eyes. He just couldn't pull his eyes away.

"What are you staring at, brat?" Levi said, wearing his standard expression that betrayed no emotion. Beside him, Hanji was struggling to keep herself from giggling, at least until Levi glared at her. Eren's face only reddened more.

"Nothing, Corporal." Eren looked away, but not before he saw Hanji wink at him. He kept sneaking glances at Levi throughout the dinner, and, for some reason, Levi seemed to catch him doing it nearly every time. It was only for a second he would look, too. How was he doing it?

Soon, Eren felt a growing hardness in between his legs. He was mortified, hoping it would go down before dinner ended. Normally, it would only be slightly embarrassing, knowing he could just go to his room afterwards and change, but the fact that Levi was there made it much worse. What if he saw it after Eren got up?

Eren finally succumbed to keeping his eyes off of him. He didn't talk to anyone during dinner, he was too embarrassed by what had happened. He just listened to Mikasa and Armin's conversation, interspersed with Jean's comments, trying to let it distract him. Thankfully, by the end of dinner, his 'problem' had gone down a bit, though it was still noticeable. As soon as people started getting up, Levi was one of the first to leave. Eren decided he should take the opportunity to talk to Hanji, and make sure she didn't tell Levi anything. He walked over to her.

"Hanji, can I talk to you out in the hallway?" Eren asked.

"Of course," she said. They walked out, away from the noise of people. Eren was still hard, but as long as that one particular person wasn't around to see, he could deal with it.

"Armin said that you know..." he said, trailing off. He really didn't want to say out loud what it was that she knew. She smiled.

"Yeah, it's not too hard to tell," she said.

"Wait, is it that obvious?" Eren asked worriedly.

"No, no, it just is to me. I doubt other people have noticed."

"Does he know?" Eren asked.

"No, he doesn't. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell him," she said. Eren felt relieved; since she and Levi were apparently best friends, he had been really worried about that.

"Hanji, can you come with me? I need to talk to you," said a very familiar voice that came from behind Eren. He turned around in surprise, and his eyes widened as he saw Levi.

"I'm sorry Corporal, I'm going!" Eren rushed down the hallway, getting away as fast as he could. Levi looked at him oddly as he ran down the hall.

"What's wrong with him?" he said, amused.

"Who knows," said Hanji dramatically.

Meanwhile, Eren was running down the hall to his bedroom with a very red face and one very hard body part he needed to take care of, all simply because he couldn't get a certain man out of his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

It was getting hard for Levi to keep ignoring this feeling, and trying to suppress it just didn't seem to work. If anything, it was getting worse.

He was sitting at a table in the dining hall. He never normally ate with other people, but Hanji had bugged him into going, since it was his birthday. To make it worse, Eren Jaeger was sitting across from him, a few seats to the right. And Levi couldn't keep his eyes off of him. The little brat seemed to glance at him every now and then, though he was sure Eren was just looking around. _No need to get my hopes up for nothing_ , Levi thought.

However, simply being at the same table as Eren proved to be what his body considered close proximity, and he was soon hard. Hanji noticed his discomfort, and looked down, giggling.

"Levi, where'd that-"

"Shut up." He tried to look anywhere but Eren, until he realized that Eren was staring at him.

"What are you staring at, brat?" Levi snapped. Hanjii was still giggling about Levi's 'reaction' to seeing Eren, though she stopped when he glared at her. He made it through the rest of the dinner, and went out in the hallway as soon as people started getting up. He needed to talk to Hanji about this. But first, he needed to deal with the obnoxious bulge in his pants.

He found a bathroom near the dining hall, and stepped in, locking the door. He wanted to make this as quick as possible so that he could still find Hanjii. Levi pulled down his pants just slightly enough to be able to pull out his dick. It had been straining against his pants for the past several minutes, and he desperately needed to get rid of it. He leaned against the wall, starting off with just lightly stroking it.

 _Eren_... He started imagining it was instead Eren touching him. As his grip tightened and his motions sped up, his mind started going to dirtier places.

 _I want to do so much to you_ , Levi thought, imagining Eren's body under him, their bodies moving against each other in pleasure.

 _I need to take you so badly_. Soon, Levi came, and got a wet paper towel, cleaning himself off thoroughly. He shook his head, now able to clearly think. _Ugh, the kid's taking over my mind_.

He left the bathroom, and went to go find Hanji. He found her standing at the far end of the hall, talking to Eren. _Why is she talking to him?_ Levi thought.

He started worrying a bit. Hanji was the only one who knew his secret, and he'd kill her if she told anyone. Especially the one person that the secret concerned. He started walking faster, and stood behind Eren.

"Hanji, can you come with me? I need to talk to you," he said. As soon as he said that, Eren whirled around, a look of shock on his face.

"I'm sorry Corporal, I'm going!" he yelled as he ran down the hall, away from them.

"What's wrong with him?" Levi asked. Eren was a very strange kid.

"Who knows," said Hanji. "And yes, what did you want to talk about, Little Ravioli?" Levi glared at her.

"Wait until we get to the room, shitty glasses." They walked to Levi's room in silence, until Levi noticed a sly smile on Hanji's face.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Levi, your face is a little red," she said. "It doesn't look quite like you're blushing either, though." Levi just glared at her. He knew the scientist was more than capable of figuring out what he had just been doing, so he left the conversation alone.

Soon, they stepped into his room, and closed the door.

"So, what is it?" Hanji asked. Levi sighed heavily, and sat down.

"Well, the thing with the stupid brat is getting worse."

"It is, huh? You know, Levi, I really don't think suppressing it is the best idea."

"What else am I supposed to do? Just fawn over one of my subordinates? A fifteen-year old one, too," he said.

"No," she said, "I think you should go after him." Levi looked at her as if she was even more insane than usual.

"Why do you think that's a good idea?" he asked.

"You never know, there might be a chance," she said. He looked at her suspiciously.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, Levi. I'm not suggesting anything; I just think you should try going after him. Besides, maybe it would be good for you." Levi looked at her, confused.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked. She sat down in a chair beside him.

"It would be a good thing for you to learn to love someone without inhibition again," Hanji said. Levi knew exactly what she was talking about. Since he had lost Isabel and Farlan several years ago, he had hesitated to completely open up to anyone. Even Hanji, his best friend, was not as close as those two had been. Although the three of them weren't related, they had certainly felt like siblings. They were the last people he'd allowed himself to love with all of his heart.

"I don't know if I want to do that," he said.

"Please believe me when I say this. To love someone with no hesitation is an amazing feeling. I understand why you don't want to, but I think you should at least consider it," said Hanji. Levi thought about this. He was sure it would feel amazing, but the possibility of getting close to Eren and then losing him was the main thing driving him from the idea.

"I'll consider it. It's just that I don't want to get close to him, and then lose him," said Levi. His face was downcast, and Hanji knew what he was thinking about. She got up, and squeezed his shoulder.

"Well, I'll be here whatever you choose. At least consider what I said, though. I'm going to go to bed, goodnight Levi!" said Hanji.

"Goodnight, Hanji." He watched her leave, and then got up and layed down on top of his bed, thinking. Yes, he'd lost people he'd cared about, but wasn't that just part of life? Besides, it wasn't a sure fact that either of them would die anytime soon. It was just a possibility. His heart sped up as he imagined a life with Eren.

Was it worth the risk?

He thought about it for a little longer before answering himself.

 _Yes_.


	4. Chapter 4

_"Corporal?" Eren asked, looking at the short man's back as he was walking away. They were the only ones in the meeting room at that moment, and Eren had decided to take his chance when he had it. Levi turned around._

_"Yes?" he answered._

_"Um... Can I tell you something?" Eren said._

_"Of course you can, what is it?" he said, walking back to stand in front of Eren, crossing his arms._

_"Corporal, how do you feel about me?" Eren asked._

_"Tch. That's a question, not telling me anything, brat." Eren looked at the ground, about to apologize, but then Levi spoke again._

_"But if you really want to know," he said, hesitating, "I think that you're a good person." Eren looked up. Levi's face was slightly red._

_"Really?" he asked hopefully._

_"Yeah..." Eren immediately flashed his brilliant smile at Levi, who blushed even more upon seeing this._

_"Do you think anything else?" he asked Levi, stepping closer to him. Levi responded to this by leaning towards Eren, so close that their faces were almost touching._

_"I think that I like you, Eren Jaeger," he whispered, brushing against Eren's lips. Eren pressed against Levi, licking his bottom lip. He opened his mouth, and was soon twisting his tongue with Eren's. The younger man rested one hand on Levi's waist, and the other was entangled in his black hair. Levi slid his hand down Eren's side, dangerously close to his ass._

Right before he touched it, though, Eren awoke. He felt a sense of disappointment from being pulled out of the very pleasant dream. He got out of bed, and changed into his uniform. Today, they would be hearing about the plans for the next expedition, and would also be practicing with the 3D maneuver gear a bit to make sure they kept up their skill until they went out.

He looked forward to this, considering Levi would be practicing along with them. Maybe he'd get to see him fly through the air effortlessly, watch his lean body that emanated strength and grace. Eren was simply in awe every time he saw Levi in action.

He pulled his thought away from the man, and left his room, going down to breakfast. There, he met Armin and Mikasa, and as soon as breakfast was over, they went to the room where they were instructed about how the next expedition would go. Eren sat in between Armin and Mikasa. Armin leaned towards Eren.

"Did you hear what we're doing this time?" Armin asked.

"No, what?" he said.

"I heard we're going to try to get into the basement in Shiganshina," he said. Eren looked at him, surprised. He wanted to know what was in the basement, but he hadn't been expecting for the trip there to be so soon. Before he could respond, Erwin came into the room, along with Levi, who leaned against the wall on the side of the room, still close to the front.

"Good morning. Today we're going over the plans for this next expedition coming up a month from today," he said. He pointed to the map kept at the front of the room.

"We are going to Shiganshina," he said. Everyone looked surprised at this; Shiganshina was a very long way away. Just getting there would be difficult. He ignored the shock on peoples' faces, and continued the explanation.

"We'll be going along this route," he said, pointing, "And once we get there, we'll find the basement of Jaeger's house. Jaeger, you're going to be shifting for this. We need to pull some of the rubble off of the house, and you can do that easily. But as soon as you get it off, you'll need to get out of its body. We need you for future missions, and can't have you pass out from prolonged heat and die, or cause others to die from slowing them down. Understand?" Erwin asked.

"Yes," Eren said. Erwin turned back to everyone else.

"Levi, your squad will go into the basement and retrieve whatever is inside. All the other squads, we're placing you in locations that form a few circles around the house to keep titans out, so that they can get into the basement." Erwin started explaining the other squads' locations precisely. When he was finished, they were instructed to head outside, near the forest so that they could practice with the maneuver gear. It would be a month before they were using it in combat, and their skills needed to be kept up as best as possible.

And, just as Eren had hoped, Levi was joining them. He watched Levi strap everything on as he did the same. They would be slicing as many faux titans' necks as possible, and although it wasn't quite comparable to the real thing, it was the closest they could get.

Eren watched Levi shoot up into the trees, and he did as well soon after. He glided from tree to tree, watching for a titan to appear. Soon enough, a wooden cutout fell in his path. He leaped up, holding his blades, and just as he was coming close to it, Levi appeared. He spun around fiercely, neatly slicing its neck. Eren changed direction, and tried to find a different titan.

Soon, he did see one, and he made for it. As he was heading towards it, he realized that Mikasa was going for the same one. However, she reached it first, and drew her swords across the back of its neck, beating him to it. But he had been close behind her, and in order to avoid colliding with her, he dodged to his left. But as the titan fell to the ground, a shard of wood flew up, grazing the side of Eren's face. It burned a bit, but it wasn't unbearable.

He continued on with the exercise, until they all met up outside the forest. Apparently the cut on his face was worse than it had felt like. Mikasa rushed over to him, wiping blood off.

"What happened?" she asked worriedly, pressing the back of her hand against the cut.

"A piece of wood hit me, it wasn't that bad though. It only hurt a little," he said.

"Well, it's bleeding a lot. Or at least, it was. It seems to be slowing down now," she said. As she continued to hold her hand against his cheek, he looked around the group. A few people were watching with mild interest, most were heading back to the barracks, and then he saw Levi. The corporal was standing still, glaring daggers at Mikasa. Then, he turned on his heel, and started walking back to the barracks.

Eren blinked. Did he really just see that, or was he misinterpreting the situation? Had Levi just gotten jealous that Mikasa was touching Eren? That's definitely what it had looked like.

After a few more minutes, Mikasa was finally assured that the bleeding had stopped and she had cleaned up his face.

 _Well, I guess now is a good time to tell him_ , Eren thought, as he started walking in the same direction as Levi.


	5. Chapter 5

Levi swiftly walked back to his room. His brow was furrowed in slight anger at the sight of Mikasa touching Eren. Yes, he knew it was silly. He knew they were more like siblings than anything, and of course, Eren was bleeding; it did need attention. He felt disappointed in himself for not just being grateful that someone took care of Eren. But for some reason, the sight of anyone touching him made him feel a small twinge of jealousy in his heart. However, that wasn't the only reason he was angry. In fact, it wasn't even the main reason.

 _I need to tell him_ , Levi thought. The expedition was now drawing closer, and he desperately needed to get this off of his chest. This secret was like a lead weight, sitting on top of him and feeling heavier every day.

He walked into his room, grabbing a cloth and some cleaning chemicals. He put some of the liquid on the cloth, and started wiping off the top of his dresser. There wasn't any visible dust on it, since he cleaned it so often, but he continued absentmindedly anyway, thinking of how to tell Eren his feelings.

 _Eren, how do you see me_? No, that one was too vague. The brat would never get what he was trying to say if he used that. He needed to be more blunt.

 _I'm attracted to you_. Way too direct, and he'd never actually be able to just say that to Eren out of nowhere.

 _I enjoy being around you_. There. That one sounded good. It might start a conversation, and he'd be able to see how Eren felt by how he responded. If he didn't seem to reciprocate the feeling, Levi could easily just brush it off as a friendly compliment without getting him suspicious. Then again, any 'friendly compliment' coming from him would be regarded as suspicious by most.

As Levi was pondering this, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around suddenly, his instincts preparing him to fight if necessary.

"Oh, it's you," he said, glaring at the tall lady with glasses. She laughed.

"Yes, it's me, Little Ravioli," Hanji said, ruffling his hair. He ducked away from her.

"Why are you in here?" he asked.

"You left the door open, and also, you looked like you were cleaning quite angrily. Why is that?" she asked. Levi went back to cleaning his furniture with the cloth.

"Well?" she prodded. Levi sighed.

"I don't know when I should tell him," he said.

"Just try to get him alone whenever you get a chance. The expedition's coming up soon, so if you want to tell him before that, you'll probably just have to make an opportunity yourself. I don't think waiting for an opportunity will work. In fact, what if you do it today? It's obviously distracting you, and if Erwin notices, you know he's going to ask about it," said Hanji.

"Yeah," he said, thinking about it, "I'll try." She giggled.

"Tell me how it goes!" Before Levi could respond to this, he noticed someone standing in the doorway. Apparently he wasn't the only one who had forgotten to close the door when he came in.

"Eren!" he barked, hiding his nervousness under an irritated tone of voice, "Why the hell are you standing there? Were you listening to our conversation?"

"No, sir! I just now got here. I would've knocked, but the door was already open," Eren said. Levi shot an exasperated look at Hanji, who had started walking to the door.

"Well, I'll see you later, bye Levi!" she said with a triumphant grin on her face, exiting the room and closing the door behind her. _Damn it_. She left Levi in a room alone with Eren. Had she been planning this? He was slightly irritated, but a bit relieved as well for getting an opportunity to talk to Eren. _Well... Now is my chance_. Levi took a deep breath, opened his mouth to speak, and then-

"Corporal, I have something to tell you."

Levi's face paled, and his heart sped up suddenly. What if it was the same thing he was thinking?

"Yes?" Levi said. He wiped his hands on his pants, feeling them start to sweat. _Gross_.

"Um..." Eren looked away from Levi nervously. "First, I have a question." Levi looked at him in annoyance. He just wanted to know what Eren was going to say.

"What is it?" Levi replied.

"Were you... jealous of Mikasa earlier?" Eren's face was starting to become tinged with pink, and he was staring at the ground. _Shit. Was I making a face_? Levi mentally scrambled for what to say. Does he admit it? Deny it?

"You look flustered, so I'm taking that as a yes."

"Damned brat," Levi muttered quietly. "What was it you were going to tell me?" Eren hesitated before speaking.

"I... I like you."

Levi stared at Eren, shocked. The uncomfortable silence prompted Eren to speak.

"Corporal?" he said very softly. Levi walked towards Eren. When he stood right in front of him, he placed a hand on Eren's waist, and moved his lips to Eren's ear.

"Eren, I like you as well," he whispered. When he pulled back, his face was burning up, and he couldn't make eye contact with Eren.

Eren put his hand under Levi's chin, bringing it up so their lips could meet. And in that moment, both of them felt a sense of complete fulfillment. It seemed as though at last, the conflicting feelings within them both had vanished. The fears of rejection and one-sided love were gone. Within this kiss was an unspoken agreement, confirming that their feelings were mutual. To Eren and Levi, this was the happiest they'd both been in a long while.

For one moment in their hectic and difficult lives, pure perfection was found in this kiss, and everything else was momentarily forgotten.

Then, Eren pulled back, and hugged Levi tightly.

"Eren," Levi said, pulling away from the hug, "If we do this, it has to be kept completely secret. At least, to most people. Hanji already knows, and I'm sure you'll tell your friends. But outside of them, word cannot be spread around. Okay?" Big turquoise eyes solemnly looked into blue.

"Yes."

Since they had the rest of the day off, Eren stayed in Levi's room, only leaving for dinner and then returning. After dinner, the rest of their night was wordless. Because during these precious first moments together, they were fully content simply basking in each others' company, knowing that the small spark of affection they had exchanged tonight would soon grow into a sweet and all-encompassing fire.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Eren awoke with Levi's face pressed against his neck. He smiled, remembering yesterday's events. When they had decided to go to bed, Levi allowed Eren to stay in his room. Unsurprisingly, this had led to them holding each other until morning. Though Levi wasn't willing to cuddle with Eren while he was awake, he had pressed himself against Eren in his sleep. Eren, who had yet to fall asleep from the excitement, was lucky enough to have been awake at this moment, and got to admire the sleeping form of the corporal.

Eren shifted slightly, and Levi moved away from him a little, stretching out on the bed. _He must be a light sleeper_ , Eren thought. _Or maybe he was just pretending to be asleep_? He pushed away the second thought, because although it would be nice, it probably wasn't likely.

"Good morning, Corporal," Eren said softly. Levi sat up.

"Morning, Eren. By the way, it's Levi to you when we're alone from now on. Come on, let's get up," Levi said, standing.

"But it's Saturday," Eren said, " _Levi_." He enjoyed saying Levi's name; it felt intimate considering so few used it without a title. Saturday was the one day of the week that they had off; it was a much-needed rest from their rigorous training. Levi looked at Eren, who was still lying on the bed.

"What about it?" Levi said. "We have today off! Aren't you going to stay here longer?" Eren asked.

"No, I don't waste my time off by lazing around in bed," he said. Eren had an incredulous expression on his face.

"Then what do you do with it?" he said. Levi had a faint smile on his face due to Eren's cute confusion.

"I laze around outside," he said, "I'll never tire of the sunlight." Eren almost wondered what he meant by this, but before he could think, Levi was urging him out of bed.

"So, come on, get up. I'm going to go outside and see Hanji, you go on and get breakfast with your friends. Remember what I said, and make sure you're alone before you tell them anything," said Levi. He walked to his dresser and opened it, pulling out a uniform. He set it at the foot of the bed, in which Eren was still laying.

"Eren, get up." He finally did so, and walked over to Levi.

"Can I come over again tonight?" he asked. Levi thought about it for a moment.

"Yes, as long as you don't let anyone see you. But you can't come every night. If anyone notices you come here every day and that you're not in your bedroom, there could be serious trouble." Eren seemed satisfied with this answer, and placed a quick kiss on Levi's cheek before leaving to let him change in private.

He went to breakfast, and sat down beside Armin and Mikasa. They were surprised to see him, since he usually slept late on Saturdays.

"Hi Eren," Armin said cheerfully.

"Hey," he said, trying to contain a smile. All he could think of was this newest development. He'd wait until breakfast was over to tell them, so they could be alone. Mikasa gave him an odd look.

"What are you doing up so early? And is something wrong? You seem weird," she said.

"I've got something to tell you guys, but we have to be alone for it," he said. They finished breakfast, and followed Eren outside. They walked a little ways from the castle, so no one was near them. He could see Levi and Hanji in the distance, sitting under a tree. Hanji was waving her arms in an animated manner, while Levi was sitting still.

Once they confirmed that no one was around, Eren spoke.

"I told him," he said excitedly.

"What'd he say?" Armin asked.

"He said it back. But he also said it has to be a secret, so no one can know but you two and Hanji."

"That's great!" Armin said, "How did you do it? It must've been yesterday, right?" As Armin was asking him questions, and Mikasa was simply listening, Eren noticed that Levi and Hanji had gotten up.

"I just told him when we were alone, and yes it was," Eren was starting to get distracted, since Levi and Hanji seemed to be walking their way.

"Guys, I think we should go somewhere else," Eren said.

"Hm? Why is that?" Mikasa said. "Hanji and Levi are coming this way, and I have a feeling Hanji's going to try to embarrass me if she talks to us. Maybe him too, but she's probably been doing that since he left his room," he said.

"I can just make sure she never tries to do that again," said Mikasa darkly. Eren laughed nervously. Though he was sure she didn't mean it, some of the things she said worried him occasionally.

"No, it's fine! Let's just go to the other side or something," he said. They did, and luckily, no one bothered them. They enjoyed the rest of their day in peace. Or at least, Armin and Mikasa did. Eren wasn't so lucky.

 

* * *

 

 "Eren!" Eren jumped as someone put their arm across his shoulders as he was walking back to his room after dinner. He was going to clean up, then go to Levi's room a little later. He looked up in surprise, and sure enough, it was Hanji.

"Hi," he said, slightly irritated. He had almost gotten through the whole day without Hanji harassing him. _Almost_.

"So, I heard about what happened," she said. Eren opened his mouth to speak, but Hanji spoke first.

"Don't worry, I already made sure no one is around." Eren was now starting to not be surprised by her apparent mind-reading skill. At first, it had been unnerving, but he soon got used to it.

"Do we have to talk about this?" Eren asked. He tried to pull away from her grip, but she just tightened it.

"Oh, yes," she said, giggling, "We very much do. So, when do you think you two will have sex? I asked Levi, but he just wouldn't answer." Eren stared at Hanji, his eyes wide.

"W-What? Uh, I haven't really thought about that sort of thing... It's only been one day," he said, feeling very uncomfortable.

"I know, but it's never too early to at least think about it! Whenever you do, you've got to tell me all the details. You see," she said, leaning closer to him, "It's for the sake of science."

"Uh..." Eren didn't know how to respond. What would she learn about by hearing the details of _that_?

"What exactly does it do for science?" Eren asked, not sure if she was serious or not.

"It doesn't." Eren looked behind him to see Levi. He turned to Eren.

"It's her masturbation material," Levi said bluntly, then turning back to Hanji, "Please, Hanji, get your 'research' elsewhere."

"Awww, you know me too well, you Little Ravioli," she said. Levi glared at her, then lightly grasped the upper part of Eren's arm.

"Come on, Eren. Let's leave this crazy lady and her delusions alone," he said with a small smile, starting to pull Eren along down the hallway.

"Have fun, you two," she said, laughing. Levi didn't respond. Eren looked at Levi in awe. There was a smile on the man's face, and, though Eren had seen him smile a few times, it was very rare.

"I can feel you staring, brat," Levi said. Eren quickly looked away.

"I'm sorry," he said half-heartedly.

"No you're not," Levi said, chuckling. They stepped into Levi's room. All Eren could do was admire this new side of Levi he was just getting to know. It seemed that the cold, stoic, man whose personality everyone thought they knew, might be quite a bit different on the inside.


	7. Chapter 7

Levi was now sitting at his desk, and it was a little past dinnertime. Eren should have been coming over in a little bit; they'd worked out a schedule of which days he could come visit Levi, and Eren had thought up excuses to use in case he was seen going to Levi's room and questioned.

It was the night before the expedition to Shiganshina, which meant it had now been four weeks since Levi and Eren had started seeing each other secretly. These past few weeks, Levi had realized something. As his attachment to Eren grew, so did his worry for the expedition. He normally didn't do this, as he'd hardened himself to not imagine who would or wouldn't be coming back. He knew tomorrow would be his last day seeing some of the people he knew alive; he'd come to accept the fact as much as he disliked it.

But something was different this time: his mind was starting to replay old memories of past expeditions. He knew that it was silly and pointless, that it was just a sign of his unusual anxiety. He kept pushing them away, but they returned without a sign of stopping.

He sighed, folded his arms on his desk, and rested his head on them. With this, he gave up struggling against his mind.

_Levi fell off of his horse, which ran away as soon as he hit the ground. The rain had finally stopped, though everything was still wet, and the sky was gray. When he looked around him, the first thing he saw destroyed him. Isabel's severed head lying on the ground, her glassy eyes still open. Her face was covered in blood, as was the part of her neck that she still had._

Tears welled up in his eyes, which were still closed tightly. _Damn it_ , he thought, _Eren better wait a while before coming_. He felt ashamed that he allowed himself to cry. It had been a long time since he had let this happen.

_He turned around. A titan chomped down on something hanging out of its mouth, and he heard a sickening crunch. Farlan's upper body fell to the ground._

A tear escaped Levi's eye, running down his nose and dripping onto his sleeve. This was humiliating. But, for some reason, he just couldn't stop. _Humanity's strongest, hah. Here I am, losing control of my thoughts and crying. Fucking crying._

_Levi looked at the titan, staring in shock for a second. Then, he launched himself at it. He screamed, slashing every part of it. He cut off its head, and destroyed every single part of its disgusting body._

Anger coursed through him at this part of the memory. His hands trembled, and the tears started pouring, forming small damp circles on his sleeve. Then, more recent memories came into focus.

_Levi looked down the tree on which he was standing. He saw Petra's body, her blood splattered against the tree, and her head bent back much too far. He saw Gunther's body not too far behind hers._

Levi was silent, aside from the soft sound of sniffling. What was wrong with him? He was normally calm before an expedition. He always blocked out memories like these whenever he wasn't fighting so they didn't disturb and distract him. But right now, they were here, and felt as real as they had when they had happened.

Normally, he used the pain of his friends' deaths to fight harder, to force himself to make every single effort to do his best. He refused to let their deaths be in vain. Usually, during an expedition, these memories would anger him, and fuel him on. But at this moment, they were scaring him. And with his mind's next gruesome trick, he realized why.

_"Eren! Shift, now!" Levi said. He watched in horror as Eren bit his hand, over and over again. He was in the hand of a titan, but he wouldn't transform. He had a clear goal, and his hand was gushing blood. So why wouldn't he? Levi leapt up to the titan, and slashed its neck open. But by the time he did, Eren was bitten in half, his torso laying on the ground._

He was remembering how he'd lost many people he had cared about. And he realized that this was because he now had someone he was close to, again. _This_ was why he tried to keep himself from getting attached to people. If he lost Eren tomorrow, he didn't know what it would do to him. The grief of losing people he loved was all coming back, and crashing down on him. And the fear of losing someone he'd come to love in an entirely different way was only adding to the pain.

Levi jerked in surprise when he heard a knock on his door. He was slightly thankful, since it had pulled him out of his morbid thoughts, though mostly anxious since he knew it would be Eren. He didn't answer, not trusting his voice to not crack at the moment.

They knocked again. Levi just hoped Eren wouldn't try to open the door; he'd left it unlocked. It would be mortifying for Eren to see him like this.

"Corporal? It's Eren," he heard the voice on the other side of the door say. Levi buried his face further in his arms. Eren was likely to come in, and he didn't have time to go wash his face.

Levi heard the door open slowly, hesitantly. It closed again. After a few seconds, he assumed Eren was beside him. _Shit, this is humiliating_ , Levi thought. He felt a warm hand on his back.

"Hey," Eren said. Levi didn't respond.

"I can tell you're not sleeping, Levi," Eren said gently, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Levi mumbled. His voice felt hoarse.

"Can you lift your head up? I can't understand you very well like that," Eren said. Levi didn't move. He felt that he would die of embarrassment if Eren saw his face. He had stopped crying, but he was sure his face still looked a mess.

"Levi, please look at me. I don't believe that you're all right," he said, trying to move Levi's arms. After that didn't work, Levi felt a jab in his side, right under his ribs. He yelped and jerked away at the tickling sensation, revealing his tear-stained face. _Damn Eren for finding out about that_ , he thought.

At this opportunity, Eren grabbed both of Levi's hands, gripping them tightly enough so that Levi couldn't pull them away without using force and hurting him. Levi closed his eyes and tried to turn his head away from Eren. However, Eren didn't react negatively to his appearance, which, in Levi's mind, was probably pretty gross right now.

"Please tell me what's wrong," Eren pleaded gently.

"You're not supposed to see me like this. It's disgusting," Levi said in a voice barely above a whisper. Eren released Levi's hands, and hugged him. He held Levi against him tightly.

"No, it isn't. That doesn't bother me. But you being upset does," Eren said.

"Don't patronize me, brat," Levi said softly. He rested against Eren, hoping he wouldn't let go. It was certainly helping; Levi's fears, while still present in his mind, seemed more distant at the moment. Eren's hands slowly moved across Levi's back, and for a brief few seconds, he felt as if all was well.

But after a few minutes of silence, his fears returned.

"Eren?" he asked.

"Yes?" Eren answered.

"Please be careful tomorrow. Follow your orders, and don't do anything reckless," said Levi.

"I will, and you do the same," he said. "Is that what was bothering you?" Levi hesitated before answering.

"Yeah. But we should talk about something else," he said.

Levi and Eren talked until late at night, probably too late. But Levi's fears were soon gone, and he felt ready for the expedition the next day. So did Eren. And finally, many words, hugs, and kisses later, they went to sleep, both looking forward to the end of the expedition.

That night, Levi bared his soul to Eren, and this inextricably bound them together, readying them for any trials that awaited them.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning, Eren was shaken awake by Levi. He felt much too tired to get up yet, why couldn't he just lay with Levi in bed all day?

"Nngh," Eren mumbled, not wanting to get up.

"Eren, today is the expedition," Levi said. As soon as he said this, Eren shot up and got out of bed clumsily. He nearly tripped when he tried to stand, but Levi steadied him.

"We're going to find out what's in the basement!" he said excitedly. Levi rolled his eyes.

"You just do as you're told, and be as careful as possible," Levi said. Eren took Levi's hand.

"Aw, are you worrying about me?" he asked teasingly.

"Eren, I'm serious. This one will be more dangerous than usual, considering how far we have to go. I need to know that you'll be careful. And I'm not just saying this because we'll need you in the future. I... wouldn't like it if anything happened to you," Levi said quietly. Eren squeezed Levi's hand.

"I will," he said, his face becoming serious. He put a hand on the side of Levi's face and kissed his lips softly, causing Levi to blush ever so slightly. After a second, Levi pulled back.

"Change your clothes, we need to get ready. We're leaving in about an hour." He walked over to his dresser, and got out a clean uniform. As he started stripping off his clothes and putting on new ones, Eren left to go get prepared to leave as well.

 

* * *

 

 

"You ready?" Levi asked. He had walked over to Eren casually after his friends had left to get horses. Everyone was milling around, getting horses and supplies, and tension was thick in the air.

"Yes," Eren said, "Are you?"

"Of course I'm ready," Levi said, smirking slightly. His confidence seemed to have returned, and Eren was thankful for that. He wished he could give Levi one more kiss before they left, but they were outside, with lots of people surrounding them.

"Well, kid, you need to go get a horse. Do your best today, and remember what I said," Levi said. He gave Eren a small smile, and walked to his own horse, waiting nearby.

Eren went to one of the lines of people waiting to get a horse, and thought about what Levi had said. _I won't let you down, Levi_ , Eren thought. As soon as he got to the front, he pulled his horse to the side, and got on. He led it over to Levi, who was waiting with the rest of the people who would be in his squad for this expedition. Armin, Mikasa, Jean, Ymir, Christa.

This wouldn't be his permanent new squad, but for now he just needed a few people for getting into the basement. Everyone else would be needed to defend them while they were in there. Then, if everything went as planned, they would return as quickly as possible.

"Remember," Levi said, "Eren will go slightly ahead of us once we get close to his house. He'll shift, and lift the rubble off the house. Then," he said, looking directly at Eren, "you need to get out of the body right away." He turned back to everyone else. "I'll go down into the basement, and you all stay as guards around the house. As soon as I retrieve whatever is in there, we're all splitting up to tell everyone else to retreat. Got it?" Everyone nodded.

Eren heard a shout from Erwin, calling them all to him.

"We're leaving now. Everyone, give this your all. This expedition could be the one to finally save humanity." He turned to the front, and started moving forward. People, in groups of their squads, fell back behind him, eventually forming a long trail.

 

* * *

 

 

The gate of Trost opened. Out went a stampede of Recon Corps soldiers, flying into the face of whatever awaited them outside the walls.

Levi's squad was near the front, but not the first group. They were gong to try to get their job done as fast as they could, to prevent as many deaths as possible. As they were riding, Eren could feel his whole body tensed in anticipation. He had been waiting years to see what was in the basement, and today was the day he could find out. He was feeling pretty good about this expedition, mostly from his pure determination to complete this mission successfully.

They were going in a relatively straight path through the cities inside Wall Maria. Once safe, but now titan territory. If there was one good thing about this, though, it was that there were plenty of buildings around, making the 3D maneuver gear much more useful.

Just then, a green flare was fired from the front group, going off towards their right. Everyone followed, veering off of their original course to avoid any threats. But as they neared another city, they could already see the titans concentrated in this area. However, there was no good way to avoid this. They had to go through some city to reach Shiganshina, and there would be titans in all of them. So, they would just try to get through here as quickly as possible.

As they got into the city, all of the groups split up. They were all going to meet at the same place once they reached the end, so they still stayed somewhat close together, but far away enough that the titans wouldn't all gather in one spot. Eren, Armin, Mikasa, Jean, Ymir, and Christa all stayed behind Levi, following him closely.

Eren could hear his heart pounding in his ears; he was just expecting a titan to attack them anytime now. But, for some reason, none of them seemed to be attacking their particular squad. He was sure everyone else was getting beat up. He felt relief as the houses started to thin out, and the titans in his range of sight started decreasing.

But when they were finally approaching the end of this city, a fifteen-meter class titan stepped out in front of them. They attempted going far around it, but it reached out at an impossibly fast speed, grabbing Eren. Levi leapt into the air, shooting up to the titan and around to the back of its neck, about to slice it. But just as he was about to kill it, it dropped Eren onto the ground, and spun around abnormally fast.

Eren watched the following scene as it happened in a second, though it felt like hours.

It grabbed Levi, and before he could react, put him in its mouth, swallowing him whole.


	9. Chapter 9

Levi slid down the titan's slimy throat. It was disgusting, and he felt as if he was starting to panic. _No. I can't panic. I never do, and this is no reason to start_ , he thought. He was determined to find a way out of this, both the situation and the titan.

He fell into the titan's stomach, feeling a burning heat around him. It was dark, and he felt things bumping against his legs. He tried not to think of what, or, more realistically, who they were. The air was also stifling; it felt like it was crushing him. He was starting to get light-headed. He felt as though he just wasn't able to breathe in enough, no matter how deep his breaths were. And his heart was pounding and his head was spinning, and he was struggling not to take shallow, panicked breaths. He knew it was only a matter of time until he passed out, and he needed to prolong it as much as possible.

Levi was soon sweating profusely from the heat, and both his thoughts and movements became sluggish. He felt as if he was about to fall asleep but couldn't, like his body wanted him to fall asleep, but his mind was protesting it.

But then he thought of Eren. Tears started falling down his cheeks. _If I give up right now, I won't be able to see Eren again. I'll never hug him, or kiss him, or hear his voice again_. He felt himself becoming angry.

_Eren._

_I won't give up, for you_.

Levi struggled to pull out his two blades. His arms felt like heavy weights were attached to both of them. His still bleary mind had been awakened, just slightly, by thinking of his boyfriend. More specifically, the person he... loved. Yes, he loved Eren. And he was not going to die without having told him so.

He managed to pull them out. He staggered over in one direction, reaching the wall of the titan's stomach. Just as he raised his swords, though, the titan fell to its side. He fell, getting covered in scalding liquid. His whole body felt as if it had been thrown into a fire. He gasped for air, choking and coughing, then stood up again. He found the wall of the stomach a second time. Levi slashed a large gash into the side of the titan's stomach.

Just as he was doing that, he saw a third, then fourth sword penetrate the wall. Someone from the outside was helping him. But this realization didn't even occur to him. Searing pain was wracking his body, and his mind was going dim.

Just as he saw a sliver of the light of day, he passed out.

 

* * *

 

 

Eren furiously thrust his blades into the titan's stomach after he killed it. He refused to lose his love. He was very much in love with Levi, and was going to tell him the second they got back to the headquarters.

As he pulled his swords out, he saw two others sticking out of its stomach, facing towards him. So Levi had tried to get out. He quickly found the person attached to the two swords, and pulled him out. Levi seemed to look at him for just a second, before losing consciousness. Eren quickly put his hand on Levi's wrist, feeling for his heartbeat. Luckily, it was still there.

But he was covered in angry red burns, and was laying limply in Eren's arms. There wasn't any time to help him, since they were still in the 'outside,' so he ran to his horse and picked up Levi, setting him down at the front of the horse. Eren sat behind him, holding Levi closely to him, and used his other hand to take hold of the reigns.

Just as he was about to take off, he saw a blue flare in the sky. An order to retreat. Armin, Mikasa, Jean, Ymir, and Christa all gathered near Eren, and together they sped away.

Once the Recon Corps as a whole was far from the city and in a safer area, they stopped for a few minutes. The few wounded people (most people were either in good shape, or dead) were put onto wagons. Eren carried Levi over to a wagon, laying him down. He then sat on the wagon himself, since there was extra room on this one. Hanji saw him, and came over to him. The scene probably didn't look good: Eren was about to cry, while sitting beside a motionless Levi. She sat down beside him.

Erwin then instructed everyone to start moving. They needed to get back to safety as quickly as possible.

Eren buried his face in his arms, and cried. Hanji picked up Levi's hand, feeling his wrist. She then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Eren, he's alive," she said.

"I know," he said, sniffling, "I was so worried. Will he be okay?"

"He should be. Luckily, while the burns are bad, they could've been much worse. How did he get all those?" she asked.

"He was swallowed," Eren said in a small voice. Hanji looked at him, surprised. If Eren tried to do a little Hanji-mind-reading of his own, he'd say that she was thinking of asking him what it was like in there when he woke up, and then feeling guilty about it. But who knew if that's right. Right now, he was thinking of Levi, and what he wanted to tell him.

"How did he get out?" Hanji asked.

"I killed the titan and cut open its stomach, and he did the same thing from the inside," Eren said. Remembering the sight of Levi disappearing into the titan's mouth unnerved him, and he put his head back down. He shook as he cried silently. Hanji put an arm around him, and hugged him gently.

The ride back to the walls was silent. Everyone was sullen after this failed mission. Armin and Mikasa, riding beside each other, kept glancing at Eren with concern. After this, there was a chance that Eren and Levi's relationship could be found out. Cutting someone out of a titan's stomach was rarely done, since it endangered the person on the outside by distracting them.

Eren, while aware of this, wasn't keeping himself from touching Levi and holding his hand for that reason. If not for the burns all over his body, he would be very generous with the physical contact. But for now, he didn't want to hurt Levi anymore.

Eren knew the first three words he was going to say to Levi when he woke up, and he was willing to wait however long it would take for Levi to be able to hear his words.


	10. Chapter 10

Eren sat beside Levi. He was laying in bed, and hadn't woken up since he'd passed out after Eren had pulled him out of the titan. Eren held Levi's burnt hand gently. Luckily, the burns wouldn't permanently injure Levi, though the scars would take a while to go away.

Even Hanji had quieted down, and was just focusing on taking care of Levi. She wasn't a doctor, but had requested to be the one to take care of Levi, since they were best friends. And she did have some medical knowledge. She and Eren had been worried they wouldn't be allowed to do this, but thankfully, Erwin had let them. Levi was in Hanji's room rather than his own, though, so she would be there whenever he woke up.

Eren kneeled down beside the bed, so that he could be at eye level with the sleeping man in bed. At the memory of watching Levi be swallowed, his eyes teared up.

"I love you so much, Levi," he whispered. "I'm sorry I let that happen." He was soon crying silently, pressing his head against the side of the bed. He lifted his head, and ran his fingers through Levi's hair. He looked peaceful in his sleep, though his face was very red.

"Eren?" He recognized Hanji's voice, not turning around. She kneeled beside him.

"You really do love him, don't you," she said gently.

"Yes. More than anything else," Eren said. She smiled.

"Well, he should be waking up soon. I don't know how soon, but he'll be okay."

 _I hope so_ , Eren thought. He kissed Levi's cheek as gently as possible, careful not to hurt him.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Hanji said. Eren turned around to see Armin and Mikasa, standing near the door. He quickly turned back around, burying his face against the bed. It was embarrassing to him for other people to see him crying. Hanji left the room for the time being, to give them all some privacy.

"Eren, are you okay?" Mikasa asked. She kneeled down beside him, and wrapped her arms around him. He buried his face in her shoulder, losing control of himself. For a little while, they just knelt there, until Eren calmed down a bit. Armin hugged him soon after.

"Yes," he managed to say. "I'm sorry you two had to see this."

"It's completely fine, we just needed to know that you're all right. Will he be ok?" Armin said, referring to the small figure on the bed beside them.

"Yeah, Hanji said he would wake up soon," Eren said.

"What happened to him?" Mikasa asked.

"He was swallowed. I got him out." Mikasa and Armin stared at him.

"That was dangerous, but... I can see how important he is to you," Mikasa said quietly.

"Er..."

All three of them looked at Levi. He had started shifting around slightly in his sleep. He seemed to mouth a few indistinguishable words, which meant he had switched to a lighter sleep. He would be waking soon.

"Well, we'll leave you two alone," Armin said with a smile, and he and Mikasa left.

Eren watched Levi a little longer, before he started stirring. His blue-gray eyes opened slowly.

"Eren?" he whispered. His voice was almost inaudible. Eren smiled, feeling a tight pain in his chest like he'd never felt before.

"I'm here, Levi. You're all right," he said, placing a kiss on Levi's cheek.

"I know you're here, silly brat," Levi said softly, a faint hint of a smile present on his lips. Eren took a deep breath. He couldn't wait any longer to say this.

"Levi, I wanted to tell you something. I- I, uh..." Levi squeezed Eren's hand.

"I love you."

Eren looked at Levi, at first in shock, since those words had come out of Levi's mouth, not his, and then a smile formed on his lips, a wider and more elated one than any he'd had before, and then he started crying again. All in one moment.

"Hey, don't cry," Levi said, trying to pull Eren closer to him.

"I love you too, Levi," Eren said, his voice a whisper. Then it grew stronger. "I love you more than anything else in my life."

He leaned over his lover, and kissed him, holding him there for a few seconds, and releasing him.

"You're such a sap," Levi said, chuckling.

"I was worried I wouldn't be able to tell you that," Eren said. "How do you feel?"

"Mentally or physically?"

"Both."

"Well, mentally, I feel like Eren Jaeger just told me he loves me, but physically, I feel like I just got eaten by a titan."

Eren kissed him again.

"Is Levi awake?" Eren jumped, startled, and turned around. Hanji had come back in.

"Oh, was I interrupting something? Sorry about that," Hanji said, though a glimmer in her eye suggested she wasn't really sorry.

"Shitty glasses, I haven't seen you in a while," Levi said. She came over to him, carrying a damp wash cloth.

"Do the burns hurt?" she asked, ignoring Levi's comment.

"A bit."

"Where are they the worst?"

"My legs."

She pulled down the covers of the bed, and gently pressed the wash cloth against different parts of his legs. She then got some type of gel, and was about to put it on Levi's legs, but then she hesitated.

"Eren, would you rather do this?" she asked.

"Uh, sure," he said, taking the gel from her. He spread it over Levi's legs, covering them in the stuff. There was a distinct line on his legs that showed where the stomach acid had gone up to when he was standing inside the titan. Below the line, his legs were burnt severely, enough to be a second degree burn. Above it, the rest of his body was burnt, but only minorly. Those would be going away in a few days.

"I'll leave you two alone again for a little while. Eren, come get me if either of you need anything." She left.

"Levi, are you feeling any better?" Eren asked.

"You're right here, of course I am." Eren leaned down to kiss Levi once more. He was probably still very tired right now, so he was talking much more easily than normal. Eren decided to enjoy it while it lasted.

"I love you so much, Levi."

"I love you too, brat."


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Look, I'm alive! I'm sorry it's been so long, I was going to finish this chapter a few weeks ago, but school this year is already eating me alive. Other problems, along with school being worse than it's ever been, is making it a bit hard to update as quickly. Just please know that both of my stories will make it to the end! I hope you enjoyed the chapter; I was going to make it longer but instead I'm just splitting up this and the next chapter.

It had been two weeks since Levi had awoken at the headquarters, and he was finally better. Though he had some bad scars from the burns, they didn't hurt anymore, and everyone seemed to be back to normal. Well, mostly. It seemed as if everyone was avoiding something, like there was an elephant in the room that everyone refused to acknowledge. It was hard to explain, as if there was just tension whenever he talked to people. Sensing that people were wanting to ask him something, wonder about something, but knew it would be a bad idea. Except Hanji and Erwin, of course. Hanji, well, is just Hanji. She'd tell Levi if she knew something was going on. If she wanted to ask him a question, she'd do it with no hesitation. As for Erwin, Levi couldn't always tell what he was thinking.

Levi had been trying to convince himself that it wasn't what he thought, or that if it was, it would just die down. But that didn't seem to happen. And he had a terrible, terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach when Erwin called him into his office this day.

"Hello, Levi, come sit down." Levi wore an impenetrable expression, but he felt the dread coursing through him. He sat down, waiting for whatever would happen next.

"I have some bad news," Erwin said.

"Yes?" Levi almost struggled to keep his voice monotone.

"Well, if you haven't noticed, the news is out about you and Eren. I figured it out a while ago myself, but it seems that what happened in our last expedition has made it a bit obvious. Levi, you're our best soldier, so I trust you to not let this become a distraction. However, if news of this spreads outside the Corps, we could get into some trouble."

"Oh yeah, the idiots at the capital love accusing others of misconduct, when all they do is turn a blind eye to their own. I'm aware."

"I know. Even if it's wrong, we have to take this into consideration." Levi sighed. Just what exactly was Erwin wanting him to do about it? Even if they broke up, they'd never be able to prove it. No one in the capital would know that they weren't just pretending. And what about all the Survey Corps members? How was he supposed to fix this? Just tell them, _I'm dating someone in a lower rank than me which could potentially be the cause of us losing our greatest asset to the capital, please don't tell._ The only way he could think of would be for Eren to do it.

"Commander, just what are you asking me to do?" Erwin lightly shook his head, as if he didn't want to say what he was about to.

"Either end your relationship with Eren, or find a way to keep it a secret. Levi, I believe that only the members from the 104th know about this so far. So if you can keep it from spreading, you can continue with it. However, this is dangerous. I think that the best option is to just sever what you have with him, but I know you haven't had something like this in a long time. I'm glad you have someone you can talk to, but this cannot hinder your job. If it does, I will have to do something about it." A brief silence stretched between them as Levi thought about what Erwin had said.

"I understand."

"That's all, you can go now, Levi." He didn't have to be told twice. He left and considered where to go for a brief moment, before heading to the laboratory. Hanji never liked spending time in her room, so he knew she'd be there. When he arrived, he opened the door, preparing to be bombarded.

"Hey Levi! What's up?" She rushed over to him and hugged him. Needless to say, he pushed her back.

"I... Need your advice." Hearing Levi's tone, she realized that this was serious. She locked the door of the room and waited for him to continue.

"What happened?"

"Erwin called me in. He said that all the members from the 104th, who stay around Eren, know." Hanji's face looked unreadable.

"What did he say about it?"

"He said," Levi looked down, suddenly feeling sick, "that we either break up, or we could get punished by the bastards in the capital, if they find out. He said we could continue if it's kept secret, but... How do we even..."

"Levi, you don't have to leave him. Just think through it. Out of the people Eren talks to, he's friends with most of them, right?"

"I guess."

"And are they really going to want to lose our best soldier and Eren?"

"No. But Hanji, it could still be spread to others without them intending to. Like a disease-"

"No, don't think like that, Levi. We just have to figure out a way to explain the situation to them. Since Eren's the one who's with them all the time, maybe he can do it."

"Maybe..." Levi felt quite a bit better, though now he was in the mood to see Eren.

"Thank you, Hanji." She hugged him again, and though he resisted, he resisted less.

"You're welcome, please ask me more if you need any help! Also, I have something to give you." He waited as she dug around in a drawer on the wall, finally pulling something out.

"Here. I made this, just in case you might need it sometime," she said, smiling slyly. She held out her hand, which held a small bottle. His face turned pink as soon as he realized what it was.

"Is that..."

"Yep!" she said proudly.

"I know you can't exactly buy any unless you go into town, so I figured I'd help you along." He took it from her hand and quickly put it in his pocket. He was secretly thankful, though he'd never admit it.

"I'm going now, bye Glasses," he said, leaving.

"Bye, have fun!" she called out. This time, straight to Eren's room. He knocked on the door.

"Come in," he heard Eren say. He opened the door. Eren was with Armin, sitting on the bed. Armin glanced to Eren worriedly, and got up.

"I'm going to go, bye Eren, bye Corporal!" He left in a rush, and Levi filled his spot on the bed.

"What's he being crazy over?" Levi asked. Eren looked down, fidgeting with his hands.

"Uh... Levi, please don't get mad when I tell you this." Levi pulled Eren's left hand from the right, and squeezed it.

"Just tell me."

"The others know," Eren said in an unusually quiet voice.

"I know," Levi said, leaning towards Eren and hugging him. They held each other tightly, enjoying the contact.

"What are we going to do?" Eren asked. Levi pulled back from him, holding both of his hands.

"It's only out among the people you talk to right now. So Eren, we just have to keep this from spreading any farther. They're not going to want to lose us to the capital, we just need to make sure they know what could happen if it spreads. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then we'll be fine." Eren smiled, looking greatly relieved. He moved a hand to Levi's back, and pulled him closer. Their heads tilted, and they kissed; just a small, sweet kiss. Though, there was no doubt that that kiss would turn into something more very soon.


End file.
